WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman Henry E. Brown, Jr. (S.C.) affirmed his position that Arizona Senator and presumptive Republican nominee for President John McCain is right on target with his recent statement in support of efforts to lift the moratorium on environmentally responsible deep offshore energy development. In response to McCain’s comments, Congressman Brown made the following statement:

“I am extremely pleased with Senator McCain’s most recent statements concerning offshore energy sources. He and I not only agree that the federal moratorium on offshore drilling should be lifted, but that energy companies should provide coastal states with royalty payments. These payments would greatly benefit coastal communities for funding important initiatives such as beach renourishment, wetlands conservation and transportation and infrastructure projects.

As we face record gas prices, we must invest in our domestic resources to curb our dependence on foreign and sometimes unfriendly sources of energy. I believe in the foundation of a balanced energy portfolio to meet our nation’s energy demands. In the short-term, it should be based upon on domestic energy, nuclear power and domestically produced clean coal, while centering on long- term investments in renewable, domestic energy.

While I support Senator McCain’s plan to explore our offshore energy options, I will go further and say that I believe it is imperative that we also utilize the resources available to us in ANWR. It would be an oversight not to access all of our nation’s resources during a national security and energy crisis. ”

Congressman Brown, who represents over 75% of South Carolina’s coastline, has advocated for the environmentally responsible exploration of the intercontinental shelf for the past several years. In 2006, he was successful in passing his own amendment in the Deep Ocean Energy Resources (DOER) Act. This amendment provided a 40% revenue share allocated to coastal communities which helps these communities fund important projects such as beach renourishment, wetlands conservation and transportation and infrastructure projects

Also, this past week, Congressman Brown joined his Republican colleagues in an effort to secure unrestricted reliable energy for American consumption and transmission. This effort sought to bring the “No More Excuses Energy Act” onto the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives and force the current Democratic Majority to allow an up or down vote to allow residents such as those in coastal South Carolina some relief during the current energy crisis facing the United States.

A new Rasmussen Reports survey, conducted prior to Senator McCain’s statement, found that 67% of voters believe that drilling should be allowed off United States coastal states, and with this drilling, 64% of voters believe that gas prices will most likely go down. For more information about solutions to our nation’s energy challenge, visit Congressman Brown’s website: http://brown.house.gov/Issues/energy.html.